The Nightmare and Experiment
by Sunset-Fel
Summary: Sam wakes up from a horrible nightmare and ends up at the SGC.  She surrounds herself in work to take her mind off of the dream.  Someone comes and saves her from the darkness.  SJ sort of hinted at.  Set early season seven.


_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, never have, never will, but the men and companies that do...I worship the ground they walk on..._

_Author's Note: I got bored last night, and was half-way listening to music after running out of good fanfics to read, so I wrote one of my one...I hope it makes you think or entertains you... Have Fun and Good Reading..._

Sam's hair was a mess. She was a mess. The circles under her eyes seemed darker and her eyes were red rimmed. She had woken from a horrible dream, one that she hadn't been able to pull herself out of. It had almost been like someone had held her in place, forcing her to watch atrocities that had made her beg for the end. She arrived at the SGC in record time, barely recognizing and saluting the SFs on duty at the front gate.

She made it to her lab, turned all the lights on, and quickly sitting in her seat. She turned on her lap top and began to play the music in her play list. She began to search for some experiment on her desk, any experiment, to take her mind off of the horrible lasting images of her nightmare. She found an experiment, and began to prepare for it, gathering the required supplies. Picking up her lap top and needed items she made it to an isolation room, where she would be able to work in peace, or at least without her team constantly asking what was wrong.

Sam began on her experiment, the music playing in the background, putting all of her concentration into this one thing, stopping her from thinking about what she had seen. At one point she looked down at her watch and her shoulders drooped. It was three a.m. She rolled her shoulders and got back to work, once again pouring all of her being into her project.

"Sam?" Janet's voice asked cautiously from the door. Sam's head jerked up, pulled out of her experiment in a flash. She blanched for a moment, before halting the music and data, and laying down her tools. "Janet," Sam held up her fingers looking for the right words, "Morning." "I would say so. Do you know what time it is?" Sam blinked her eyes for a moment, glancing down at her watch. "five-thirty," Sam replied keeping eye contact with the doctor. "Do you realize you only received two hours of sleep last night, Sam?" Janet asked her voice touching on concern. "Actually it was only an hour, but I have a perfectly good reason..." "You want to tell me what that said 'good reason' is?" Janet asked her 'doctor voice' creeping in slowly. "It's nothing, really," Sam replied with a sigh, "I just have a lot of work that needs doing, that's all." Janet tapped her finger to her coat for a moment, watching Sam carefully. "Alright Sam, but if you need to talk.." "I know where to find you. Thanks," Sam replied softly. "Any time."

Sam waited for a few minutes after Janet left before starting the music up again and resuming her experiment. She had another twelve hours before the briefing, so she had plenty of time to finish her experiment and present herself as the tough soldier that she was. The planet they were going to was inhabited by a high-tech group of people who had survived a thousand years in a harsh and unforgiving environment on a treacherous planet. She knew that she should probably try and get some sleep before the mission but the thought of having that dream, that _nightmare_, again made her skin crawl and had her shying away from the very idea of sleep.

"Colonel?" Janet asked watching Jack walk down the hall at seven forty-five. "Yeah Doc?" Jack asked halting next to the petite doctor he had grown to trust and admire. "This is the fourth night this week that Sam has come in early after only going home for two hours or less. I'm getting concerned." Jack took the hint after a second of thought, "I'll go talk to her," he promised. "Thanks Jack," she said before walking toward the infirmary. Jack frowned, pausing for a moment to try and think of what could be wrong with his second-in-command to make her lose sleep, before walking toward the isolation room that one of the SFs had pointed out when asked.

"Because You Loved Me" started playing just as he walked in. He cleared his throat softly, getting Sam's attention. Sam had stopped her experiment when the song had come on, it was one that made her think though she never knew if that was a good thing or a bad when it came to what it made her think of, of who it made her think of. Sam looked up and nodded at his arrival holding up a finger to tell him to hold on. Jack nodded, listening to the song, a small smile creeping across his face.

When the song had ended Sam glanced up at him, "Sorry about that Sir," she said pausing the next song on the list. "No problem Carter," he said nonchalantly. "It reminds me of all the hard times we've been through, and how we've always given each other strength," she admitted, then added, "all of us, you, me, Teal'c, Daniel." Jack nodded, "Yeah. We've had our times." Sam sighed, "That's not what you came down here for though, is it?" "No Carter. Doc's a little concerned about your sleeping habits." "Oh...that...I can explain..." Jack raised an eyebrow imitating Teal'c's exactly. Sam sighed, "It's nothing really. You wouldn't want to hear about it." "Really? Try me," Jack told her coming to stand across the table from her.

"I had a nightmare Sir," Sam replied softly, hating admitting it. "I have those too, especially the ones that hold you in place, that won't let you go." Sam looked at him for a moment, the nodded. "Yeah, I had one of those. We were on a mission, and all of a sudden the world went dark, everything was covered in shadows, and then something came out of the shadows. It killed you three off one by one," the next part was what had made her wake up crying, "then it brought you back and made me watch you die over and over and over again. I was rooted to the spot. I couldn't do anything but watch, and it laughed, that horrible maniacal laugh. The last image I had was of you dying." Sam wet her lips, "It was just a really bad...nightmare."

Jack had listened intently, "I know what its like. I've had that dream before too," he told her capturing her eyes, "but Sam, it was only a dream, nothing more." "Yes Sir," she nodded knowing that he was trying to reassure her, and it was working. "We'll always be there for you, always. We've got your six, remember that." "Yes Sir," Sam nodded finally relaxing, "Thank you Sir." "No problem Carter. So, what have you been working on for the past nine hours?" he asked changing the subject. "You really want to know Sir?" she asked raising an eyebrow in imitation of Teal'c. "Yeah, we've got time," he answered that 'O'Neill smile' going across his face, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay, that all was back to normal or as normal as it could ever be. "It's a portable music player Sir," she said a bit ashamed, "it's about the size of your pinkie and fits around your ear," she said showing it to him. "Sweet," he said with a nod, "Do I get one of those?" Sam gave her 'Sam smile', the one that lit up her entire face, "Sure Sir," she smiled, "Sure."


End file.
